


My sweetness

by HoneycombJin



Category: EXO (Band), Super Junior, VIXX, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love, Love Confessions, Min Yoongi | Suga Is Bad at Feelings, Min Yoongi | Suga Is Whipped, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Power Dynamics, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-12-07 06:26:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18231149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoneycombJin/pseuds/HoneycombJin
Summary: Ancient times/fantasy AU:Min Yoongi and Lee Sarang are polar opposites, but they won't let their differences get in the way from loving each other.However, a war will certainly tear them apart.Will they be able to maintain their loyalty to each other? Or will they succumb to the hopeless battle and forget about the promises they made to each other?





	1. Chapter 1

Main Characters:

Lee Sarang

  * Brothers: Donghae and Hongbin

  * 19 years old at beginning of story

  * Is very playful and outgoing

  * She is from a skilled branch of the main Lee family that work to protect the main branch




****

Min Yoongi

  * Is 20 years old at beginning of story
  * Has elder brother Min KangDae

  * Guard of Park Jimin, also General

  * Was part of a Sect that was murdered by rogues




How clans work:

\- There are six clans (from 1st biggest to smallest):

  1. Kim: Official territory name: Jowangshin Estate
  2. Choi: Official territory name: Dian Mu Estate
  3. Han: Official territory name: Iza Nagi Estate
  4. Park: Official territory name: Ama Terasu Estate
  5. Lee: Official territory name: Susanoo Estate
  6. Jung: Official territory name: Dalnim Estate



Official country name where all the clans reside: Jacheongbi

The energy each clan specializes in controlling:

  1. Kim: Fire, heat
  2. Choi: lightning
  3. Han: wind, fog, steam
  4. Park: light, heat
  5. Lee: water
  6. Jung: lunar manipulation



The people who are titled as "Energy Manipulators" are people who can manipulate anything that has energy in it (duh) .

There also things like "amulets" which are objects that are capable of storing great amounts of energy or controlling energy waves.

The amulets can be swords, instruments, bow and arrows, a simple notebook and brush, a fan, jewelry, scythe etc.

**Each clan has a neighboring clan, which is their most trusted ally. The top 3 clans are:**

Kim (Neighboring Clan: Park)

Choi (Neighboring Clan:: Lee)

Han (Neighboring Clan:: Jung)

In reality, all of these clans are allies but their neighboring clans are still their most trusted ally because of a law that was formed back then due to the smaller clans being in need of support.

Locations of the clans: The entire country where the clans are situated is not the same as South Korea, think of it as the entire Eurasia area)

The Kim Clan is in the Northern West part of the entire country and has the most territory

The Park Clan is in the Southern West part

Choi is Northern East

Lee is Northern East

Jung is Northern Middle

Han is Southern Middle 

Official colors:

Kim:red, gold

Park: yellow, black

Choi: light blue:

Lee: Blue, white

Han: silver, red

Jung: purple, white

jskjks just imagine the black is white

These colors are usually worn during war or when the clans are holding meetings, but in an everyday life, they usually wear whatever colors.

*~*

**That is all for the background information! It is very important that you read this chapter as you can have an understanding as to why certain things will happen in the story and so that you won't get confused by the system.**


	2. [Prologue]

**Chapter 1:**

**Prologue**

**\- in which Min Yoongi faces what breaks his heart**

* * *

_"Min Yoongi"_

This could not be her.

_"I hereby accept you and your offering"_

She was not... she could not be this person.. she was too powerful to become _this_.

_"How was it? Formal Enough? I tried to do it according to Park and Min tradition, but you get the message, right?"_

Yoongi stared at his estranged lover and how she bludgeoned her blade into the man, ripping it out so quickly that the blood spewed out in one straight line. Her eyes were dead, the silver wrist braces digging themselves into her skin.

Yoongi could've burst out crying then and there.

But he had to take her out.

And soon.

_"We've only begun our days as an engaged pair, and now I have to leave?"_

_"Don't worry, I'll be waiting here for you,"_

He should have gone with her, he should have, perhaps, if he had gone, they would have been in another post, or perhaps the war would have been won already.

But it was too late to think about the what ifs, he had to focus on taking down the broken figure of his old fiance, while figuring out a way of regaining her old self.

But how could he do it? 

The braces were too strong, he could feel the dark energy practically oozing from it.

She turned around and faced him, her eyes cold and distant before they finally morphed into a glare. Her grip on the blade tightened, and she flicked it to make sure the blood came off, craning her neck to the side before she lunged towards him.

Yoongi stood still, feeling his grip on his flute and the bow slack, a cold dread running in his veins until they pool in the bottom of his stomach.

He watched her nearing figure, knowing that he had to something and  _fast_.

As if regaining his conscious, he placed his bow back in its hold and perched the flute in its place, drawing his hand back to grab his own sword, and just as she lifted her own sword to swing right down at him, he yanked out his blade and prevented the hit, gritting his teeth at the clash of metal.

*a few years earlier*

It was a sunny morning when he first met her.

She had on a uniform of red, and she wore a smile on her face. Her eyes were bright, and her black hair only made them stand out more. She was with her brother, who seemed more interested in the fan he had brought along than whatever his sister was babbling about.

He, at first, thought of her as nothing more but another disciple sent form the Lee clan to train under the woman ward of the Park Clan, but it wasn't until she had connected eyes with him that he realized she wouldn't be like the usual shy or strict disciples in their academy.

She seemed to notice that he wasn't breaking eye contact, making her giggle behind her hand and instead playfully winked, flustering Yoongi completely. How dare she display such behavior? It is considered vulgar in an academic place.

Her brother seemed to notice the wink and Yoongi was relieved that someone would put her in her place, but instead, her brother nudged her with his fan and  snickered. Yoongi pursed his lips and was about to step in and start a bickering, but no, the heavy pounding of the drums abrupted and every disciple flocked into the plaza to await for the headmaster's orders.

Things had changed since their first meeting, had changed for the better, only to fall and crumble.


	3. 2. The day I saw you in the garden

> **Chapter Two:**

**The Day I Saw You in the Garden**

**\- in which Min Yoongi stumbles upon a curious event**

* * *

It had been a while since he last her, and while he was glad, he couldn't help but keep thinking back to their meeting. He had never met anyone like her, someone so incredibly  _daring_. Still, whenever those thoughts came back, he quickly shook them away.

He should've known they were gonna meet again.

He was walking towards the Park estate when he heard a female voice. Normally, he would’ve ignored them, but he had stumbled upon someone talking in a babying tone. Besides that, the person was right in front of him, kneeling down and blocking the road.

He quickly recognized it to be the girl who had winked at him, and he grew uncomfortable.

He wanted to keep walking, but it seemed as if she had caught sight of him too. She perked up all of a sudden and ran towards him, stopping just in time to be approximately three inches from his face.

“Hey! You’re the guard from a week ago! Can you help me with something real quick?”

He blinked once at her, then blinked once more.

_No, I have to meet my lord soon_

Instead, he found himself nodding dumbly at her, making her grin and grab his wrist, shocking him completely, to yank him towards the place she was kneeling. 

“Well, you see mister, I have always wanted a pet fox, and one of the reasons I came here is because you have foxes that can be tamed, and I found my perfect pet fox, but he is too shy, and since you do live here, I reckon you have some tips on how to get a pet fox,” she explained, pointing to the poor creature that was curled up into itself.

“Well… there are some pet shops for that…”

“Well, yes, but I haven’t felt any connection with any of the foxes there, so I figured I’d find a family or something to adopt them all! Because I couldn’t bear separate them, but then I found this poor creature limping in the road, so I helped it walk across, and I got curious to see if it had a family or somebody to take care of him, but the poor babe only walked into a small hole in a rocky area, and I waited all day but no fox arrived! So the morning after, I came back and saw it still had a limp, so I tried taking it home but he quickly went into the bush and hid in there, so I’m trying to coax it out so I can take care of him,”

Yoongi didn’t know how he managed to catch all that in the first go, and honestly he found it ridiculous, but he could tell the girl really wanted the fox, so he figured it would be the least he could do to help her out.

“Alright, well, he is of the species we tame, and they usually love some leftover meat, but I’d have to walk all the way to a shop to get some,”

“Then please do!”

Yoongi stared at her in surprise, does this girl seriously expect him to do such a thing?

“Well, I need to be somewhere by now, I don’t really have enough time to head over to town-”

“But you promised-”

Yoongi didn’t know what to say, but all of a sudden, he saw the berries that were growing in the tree in front of them. Wanting to get out of there as possible, he stood up and walked over to the berries, grabbing a handful and walked back quickly, kneeling down and placed them on a leaf, leaving it in front of the timid fox.

The girl next to him gasps quietly and scoots a bit closer, anticipating to see what the fox would do. The fox seems to look at both of them for a while, his ears flattening even more as he timidly crawls closer to the berries, opening its mouth to bite at them.

The girl has stars in her eyes as she watches in amazement, making Yoongi wonder on how the hell this could be exciting. Still, he stands up, brushes the dirt from his robes, ready to leave but the girl still tugs on his robes, this time pushing him towards annoyance.

“I just help-"

He’s about to retort, but when he sees the limping fox crawl out from the bush, he shuts up completely, staring at it to see what would happen next.

The girl is clearly happy, but she soon frowns when the fox crawls towards Yoongi instead of her. Yoongi almost laughs at her reaction when the fox comes up to him and rubs his fur over his robes, but he instead picks up the fox and waits for her to stand up.

Once she does, she doesn’t seem to know what to say, but all he does is drop the fox in her arms, gently of course. The fox doesn’t seem to like being out of his arms so when Yoongi sees it begin to squirm in her hold, he extends his hand and gently pets his head until he’s calmed down.

“Don’t worry, she’ll take care of you,” he murmurs, and as if the fox could comprehend what he just said, the fox timidly stays in her grasp. The girl smiles and looks up at him, saying a small,

“Thank you!”

And bows, but not fully as to not startle the fox in her arms, “what’s your name?”

Yoongi furrows his eyebrows and replies, “How could my name benefit you in any way? You are a disciple and I am a guard.” She scrunches her mouth in disapproval but she quickly replaces it with a gentle grin, "Well, its so that I can thank you properly." Yoongi ponders on the thought but he reassures her that it is fine, and she huffs.

"I swear upon my clan's name that I will find out your name!"

Yoongi doesn't understand why his name is important but before he can protest, she cooes down at the furry creature in her arms and says, "I'll heal you up quickly sweet baby."

And with that, she walks away.

* * *

 


	4. 3. The strength of a woman

**Chapter three:**

**The Strength of a Woman**

**\- in which Min Yoongi realizes that the girl should not be titled as 'girl'**

**but as 'woman'**

* * *

The third time Yoongi meets the girl, its when they are assigned to classes.

Yoongi is sent to supervise the men ward because this specific class are the future guards, and since he  _is_  one of the top, well, they need his approval.

It just so happens that the women ward are training right next to them.

Yoongi notices that the girl is in that class, and he hopes she does not notice him because he is sure that she would instantly try to get his attention.

Stilll, sometimes his eyes roam over to see how she is doing, and he expects her to clumsily drop the long wooden sticks they use to spar, or to bang her fingers in between the sticks and yelp in pain.

But she stands her ground.

She moves with such fluidity, striking down so hard he could hear a slight noise of the whipping of air. She moves through two opponents, then four, then six.

She finally meets her match, the seventh student.

The seventh student dodges her blows, quick to try to ram her pole into the girl's ribs, but the girl also dodges them or prevents them. Yoongi watches in slight astonishment as the seventh student manages to thwack the girl onto the ground, but the girl, from the floor, rams her pole onto the seventh student's leg,  making her join on the floor. 

the girl quickly overpowers the seventh as she straddles her, moving her pole to hit the seventh's wooden pole out of her grasp, and after it is out of reach, she yanks her own pole backwards until the end of the stick is pointed right between the eyes of the seventh, clearly claiming her victory.

_"Lee Sarang is officially the winner of the spar session!"_

**_Lee Sarang_ **

Yoongi almost blushes at the name. 

Her name literally means  _love_.

He is impressed by  _love's_  skill, and he realizes that he has been belittling her ability in combat, and he feels ashamed. Still, he is not that close to her as to apologize out of the blue, and besides, she doesn't even know about what he thought of her.

He is snapped out of his thoughts when he hears his name being called out,

"General Min! General Min Yoongi!"

His head snaps back to the teacher of the class, a slight flush creeping up his neck for being distracted. He quickly moves towards the front  of the class, realizing that he has not even been paying attention to the combat of the boys.

However, when he looks up to the class, he catches the sight of  _Love's_  figure in the background, her usual grin on her face as she stares at him.

he wonders if she knows he had been watching her, and he once again feels embarrassed, but then he realizes,

_She now knows his name._


	5. 4. The lights do not compare to your smile

Chapter Four:

The Lights Do Not Compare to Your Smile

\- in which Min Yoongi feels his chest tighten at the sight of Love

Love shows up most of the time when Yoongi is supervising the class, and Yoongi is always distracted.

Love giggles every time she catches him staring, and she wiggles her fingers as a "hello." 

She excels in her sessions, occasionally retorts to the teacher, occasionally stumbles and occasionally gazes away, and Yoongi finds himself paying attention to those small details.

Yoongi now knows that when one of the corners of her lips twitch, she is hungry, he now knows that when she taps her fingers on whatever object she holds, it means that she is getting impatient, he now knows that when her eyebrows twitch, she is sleepy, and he now knows that when she squirms, she will glance up at him and goof off.

And Yoongi finds it amusing.

He soon looks forward to these sessions, because although he does supervise the male disciples and scold them and correct their posture, he also gets to experience some sort of entertainment from a female disciple he once thought useless.

He has learned now that the Lee clan tend not to enforce a stern posture, the reason as to why she winked at him, and they value human connection, which is why she grabbed him instantly when she needed help to grab the fox.

Yoongi has also now learned not to judge before acknowledging, and he hopes that in future, if they get closer, that he will subtly apologize for getting the wrong idea of her.

So, when his young lord informs him that they will embark on a trip to visit the Kim Clan, he feels a tad bit sad when he realizes he most likely will not see Love for around two weeks.

When they are on their way to the Kim estate, his young Lord, Park Jimin, informs him that it had been brought up to him that he has not been his usual self during the sessions.

"They tell me you have been distracted, why so?"

"I tend to bore myself, I apologize, I will focus harder,"

Jimin smiles at him and shakes his head, "Is it perhaps because of someone?" Yoongi feels once more a slight flush in his neck and his chest tightens for some odd reason. 

Jimin laughs and settles into his seat, "My poor general, you must be feeling those emotions, I thought the cold Min Yoongi had a heart of stone?"

Yoongi rolls his eyes at the description, and he keeps his mouth shut as the reminder of the meaning of her name appears in the back of his mind.

"Well, you shelter those feelings during the sessions, I don't want the future guards to slack off," Jimin says in a teasing tone, turning to look out the window with a smile.

When they arrive to the Kim estate, they are greeted by Kim Minseok and his brothers Kim Seokjin, along with the general and master energy manipulator Kim Namjoon with second in commands Kim Taehyung and Kim Jongin, and its to this sight that Yoongi dreads his following two weeks of paperwork and meetings.

Kim Jongin informs him on the recent sturs, most from the Jung and Han clan, and Taehyung informs him on possible meetings with the head of the clans, another stressful notice to Yoongi.

When he walks into the quarters of the heir of their Park branch, Yoongi realizes that there is someone else accompanying his lord. She smiles at him and welcomes him, introducing him to Lee Donghae, her new head guard.

Yoongi finds him oddly familiar, and by the looks of it, he finds him familiar too.

"Ah, general Min Yoongi," Donghae says, "my sister speaks quite well of you."

Love talks about him? Love has another brother?

Yoongi has to endure praise after praise from Donghae, and although he is flattered,  he also founds out that Love observes him too.

When he arrives back to the Park estate, it is already dark and the lanterns decorate their territory. 

It seems that Love and her other brother await for the return of the eldest, because they are among those that are waiting to receive. Love holds a traditional lantern in her hands, the light illuminating her face, but her eyes are still sparkling.

She and her brother immediately call out for Donghae, greeting him with smiles and a basket of fruits. 

His chest tightens at the sight, and he almost falls off of his horse, because the only thing he can focus on is the smile that is adorning Love's face.

And he wishes it was directed towards him as well.


	6. 5. When I became closer to you

Chapter Five:

When I Became Closer to You

\- in which Min Yoongi learns more about Love

Yoongi is assigned to a group to take them out on missions.

Yoongi would usually not care because he's been doing that part of the session for around three years now, this being his third year, so he has the basics down. 

The only difference this time, is that a certain female disciple is in his group. 

love smiles brightly when she sees him, super ecstatic about having him as her supervisor. 

"Good morning General Min!"

It's the first time she's ever addressed him with his name, or surname at least, and he smiles at the statement, nodding back as a greeting. Love starts to talk about how her fox has begun to take a liking towards her and even willingly curls up in her lap when she sits down. She talks about how she lied about her family being okay with it, but Donghae had managed to convince them that the fox was going to be fine and that Love would be the responsible one for it (he also learns that she named the fox Xiao because it means 'small').

Yoongi finds himself listening to her instead of checking for all the disciples. He listens and listens, but nothing more. In fact, Love tries to crack a few jokes here and there, and huffs annoyingly when she receives no reaction. Still, she keeps talking, and it is only when she stops that Yoongi realizes it's time to embark on the mission.

Their first mission is to head to the southern border of the Park Clan and expulse the accumulating dark matter that comes when too much poisoning of a certain herb spills out. Of course, the dark energy surrounding the matter could easily affect anyone if they are not careful with it, and only energetic manipulators are allowed to go and get rid of these cases, and it was perhaps the first time many of these disciples come face to face with dark matter and energy, so Yoongi knew that they were going to be intimidated at first.

Love seemed to know the case exactly, because she and her brother, Hongbin, whispered to each other as their eyes roamed over the toxic area.

The supervisor, who was recalling past lessons to the disciples, did not notice the two sneaky siblings who crept towards the matter. Yoongi had not known either, because even if he did have a soft spot for the female disciple, he still would not let her do whatever she wanted. 

So, when they heard the whipping of air swirl around them, each of their hearts froze. 

They all turned and moved to look towards the source, horrified to see Hongbin tying a rope around his sister's waist, dangerously close to the energy. The two siblings turned towards the crowd, gave a cheeky smile, and jumped, hurling themselves towards the dark color hues. Yoongi immediately shouted towards his soldiers to move and bring them back, absolutely frightened at the thought of something happening to the Lee twins, especially Love. 

The guards took out their amulets, allowing the energy to form around them and give them a protective shield to lower themselves down to where the siblings were. 

Yoongi, too, took out his amulet, a flute that accumulated sound energy waves, and blew a few notes to create his own protective shield.

When they got there, however, the Lee twins had taken out their long and slim yet incredibly sharp swords, both highly enfused with their own energy, and were standing right in front of each other. Eyes closed, side of the swords in between their eyes, a hand behind their back bunched into a fist. 

They were not harmed whatsoever, and so Yoongi stopped his soldiers, seeing that the dark energy had stopped it's violently thrashing winds and that the situation was actually under control. Still, he kept them at bay and held a cautious eye towards the siblings, curious to see what they would do.

The siblings' eyes eventually snapped open, one foot stepping backwards, the fist opening into an open hand yet still kept back, their arms moving backwards to pull the swords away from their faces. In a split second, the twins immediately clashed their swords together, engaging in a small ten second battle, their lips moving in some sort of riddle with each hit, until they finished off with grabbing the handle of the sword with both hands, returning to their original position of being in front of each other, and rammed it into the dark matter, a bright light immediately bursting out from the swords.

The wind began to swirl, not as harsh as the first time, with the dark energy color hues being brought towards the blue light. The twins took out their swords, yet the bright blue light remained, and they immediately started climbing onto the rocky wall to get back to the others, not at all harmed or exhausted by the looks of it.

Yoongi was impressed yet again by the female disciple, but even if there was a swelling of pride somewhere in his heart, he still was absolutely pissed at the foolishness that they displayed. 

The guards helped them arrive quicker, but just as they stepped onto the end of the cliff, the supervisor immediately began yelling at them both, scolding them for being so impatient and risky. The Lee twins winced at the first shout, but soon they seemed to grow bored of it.

At the end of the supervisor's screaming, hongbin smiles slyly and replies, "But we shut off the dark matter!" Love nudges him as she tries not to grin, and because of those retorts, the supervisor yanks both of their ears and pulls them down, making them kneel and smacks them both on the head. The rest of the disciples watch awkwardly and Yoongi wants to intervene, but he knows that what the female disciple did was wrong, and well, he didn't want to intrude on the punishment. 

After a minute or two of thwacking, the twins are finally allowed to stand up, and although they flinch from time to time, they still wear those stupid grins and trudge behind the rest, clinging to each other as they recalled the 'marvelous' thing they did. Yoongi watches them from behind, and as soon as he makes sure nobody is watching him, he looks down and smiles.

(Love turns around just in time, and her smile disappears when she sees him smile, a slight warmth pooling at the top of her ears. Hongbin is distracted by his own retelling of the story, so he doesn't notice his sister being flustered)

When they arrive at the academy, the Lee twins are taken to the disciplanary ward, probably to earn another good smacking, but the rest aren't exactly surprised at all.

Still, when Yoongi walks around to distract himself from recurring memories, he stumbles upon a familiar woman.

Resting upon a pillar in front of the fountain, is Love. 

Yoongi doesn't know if she should try getting near her, but he seems to run out of options when she opens her eyes and sees him.

She smiles at him, and moves slightly to reveal the sleeping fox in her embrace, and she beckons him to get closer. 

And Yoongi does.

They stay quiet for a while, with Yoongi occasionally petting Xiao's head.

"Does it hurt?"

Love shakes her head, "not anymore, it's more uncomfortable than anything, but Donghae put on some ointment."

Yoongi hums in acknowledgement, not really knowing what else to say, but he remembers how amazingly they were able to calm down the energy field, so he decides to praise her on that.

"What you did today, that was... impressive, is it a technique the Lee clan uses?"

Love nods and explains, "it's an incredibly difficult move, but Bin and I have been working on it secretly, and we decided to try it out today." Yoongi clicks his tonue in disapproval, yet holds his tongue because she's had enough punishment for the day. "They put us off missions for about a week, so I won't be able to see you as much," she murmurs, cradling the suddenly squirming fox. "I should've thought it out more huh? I was excited to be put in a squadron with you, I'll have to wait more now," she added, smiling gently at Yoongi.

Yoongi learns many things all of a sudden.

He learns that Love is ecstatic, eager to please those she admires, eager to do things quick, able to accept her faults and that Love can smile even in moments when one should be humiliated.

and he learns what love really is.


	7. 6. Accept me just as I have accepted you

**Chapter Six:**

**Accept Me Just as I Have Accepted You**

**\- in which Min Yoongi begins to court**

* * *

A year and a half passes, and Yoongi and Sarang have been seen walking together frequently, taking Xiao out to roam the gardens together, heading towards the meetings together whenever Sarang and Hongbin come back from the Lee territory.

At first they found it strange, but they never questioned it, only chose to speak in hushed whispers about it.

Sarang advances through the ranks, ignoring the rumors that spreaded around, and proves herself worthy of the titles by taking down anyone who calls her out for it. She sticks her head up high, a triumphant smirk as she walks away from the glaring opponents. This earns her quite a reputation, a reputation of a fighter, a skilled one too. 

(It also costs her frequent trips to the disciplanary ward)

Hongbin has given up on scolding her, and instead turns to scold Yoongi for allowing such rumors to start in the first place.

It does get troublesome, but they are able to fend off the rumors. 

This also saddens Yoongi, because well, he was beginning to think that perhaps  _Love_  has mutual feelings for him, but due to her constant fighting, he began to think otherwise.

As any pathetic heartbroken lovefool, he begins to create a distance.

And this costs him another smacking.

This time by  _Love_.

She demands to know why he had been so distant, placing her hands on her hips, her fingers tapping impatiently. Yoongi doesn't know what to say, because he's starting to feel ashamed for being so childish.

So he tells her flat out.

_"Things were happening and I figured it was best for me to stay away,"_

_Love_  frowns at him, crossing her arms and quirks up an eyebrow.

Yoongi then begins to look at her thoroughly. 

Her jawline is sharper, her cheekbones aren't jutting out, but they are more noticeable than before. Her hair is longer, and she seems more mature. He finds her face incredibly interesting, but she snaps her fingers at him and asks for more.

Yoongi isn't a man of many words, and he does not want to say what he has been yearning to say to her, not now.

 _Love_  seems to get the message that he will not talk, and she frowns a bit, stepping backwards, her straight shoulders lowering as she gives up. 

"I'm sorry... if I got too troublesome for you... I... I never meant you any harm,"

Yoongi wants to slap himself.

For a 21 year old who has exceptional skills and proven himself worthy enough of bearing the title of general at a young age of 19 (despite not being the adequate height for it), he still does not know how to confront these types of situations. So, he immediately darts out and grabs her arms, making her eyes widen.

"N-No! You're never... never a bother!"

She blinks in confusion and he can tell she's beginning to get frustrated, so he, like a fool, stumbles over his words,

"I wanted... I wanted uh.. for you to... to... "

"To what?"

"to.... accept me..." he whispers, "to accept me just as I have accepted you."

 _Love_  develops a slight blush, and the sparkle Yoongi enjoys so much reappears. Yoongi removes his hands from her, and realizes what he subtly told her. He curses himself, curses himself for letting himself go like that. He steps backwards once, then twice, and right before he makes a run for it, she steps forwards with a huge smile.

"Prove to me, show me reasons as to why I should accept you, and then perhaps, I'll consider it," she says, giggling behind her hand as she extends her hand to grasp his. Yoongi freezes at the sudden skin contact, a sudden reflex urging him to yank back his hand, but he instead grasps it gently.  _Love_  seems delighted, she seems excited, and Yoongi  _knows_  she is not being mean or mocking him, and that she is clever in using words and that she is just like him, using different words to express what she's feeling.

Her other hand moves to hold his other hand, and now he's a blushing mess and all he can do is look at their connected hands. They stay like that for a while, and Yoongi suddenly brings up, "I need to ask your brother for permission."  _Love_  smiles gently at him and shakes her head, saying, "Then your task is already easy." 

The two walk around the area for a little while, both quiet but basking in each other's presence.

Later on, Yoongi does decide to speak to her brother, as he was the guardian, and right when he does, Donghae's eyebrows furrow. Yoongi stands straight and speaks clearly, a brave front to his trembling insides.  _He was a general for heaven's sake! Why is he secretly afraid of presenting himself to her brother? Is he that afraid of rejection?_  Donghae listened to him seriously, face incredibly stoic and eyes so harsh that Yoongi did not know what he could do to lessen... whatever was going to happen.

"Therefore, I, Min Yoongi, come before you, to ask for your permission to court your sister,"

Yoongi does not know how he managed to say that without stuttering.

Donghae gripped his brush tighter, his frown deepening as he eyed the smaller man. He stood up all of a sudden, making Yoongi gulp, and walked over to him, his figure looming over him. There's another moment of silence and Yoongi is already sulking because he's almost positive that Donghae is going to say no and Yoongi won't be able to love  _Love_  as freely as he wished he could. Donghae, however, crosses his arms and replies, "You have proved yourself worthy of your title, and I've seen how you act around my sister, I trust that you will take care of her, protect her as much as she will protect you, and love her as she deserves." 

Yoongi could've hugged him then and there.

Donghae then places his hand on his shoulder and adds, "if Hongbin starts to mess around with you, tell me and I'll do something about it." Yoongi can only nod dumbly.

The first thing Yoongi does is gather some flowers for her, a classic move for courting. He collects some peonies and bundles them up in a red cloth, leaving them in front of her dorm room, and runs away before anyone can catch the sight of the general of a troop leaving flowers for a girl. 

That morning,  _Love_  arrives with a smile, and Yoongi smiles triumphantly.

The next thing he does is send over notes of either love poems he comes up on his own, or just some dumb little story of how his day went and how he wishes she would be there to settle the rowdy boys he had to deal with (because Yoongi knows his future wife would quickly prove who's in charge). 

And every morning he manages to see  _Love_ , she is bright and smiling, making everyone think that someone  _is_  courting her.

There are moments they can be together, and they spend those moments with Xiao or a trip to the town, where Yoongi has to stop  _Love_  from entering those low-life games or from eating too many sweets. 

Currently, they're resting from their long day, both leaning on each other against a tree. Granted, they shouldn't be in this position because they aren't anything official yet, but  _Love_  had practically already accepted him a long time ago, and she just wants more time of having a mushy loving general around her all the time. But enough was enough, and  _Love_  knew that if she kept up the act, something would happen, and she was too scared of losing Yoongi, so she tells him to meet her in the same spot where he helped her get Xiao.

That night, Yoongi finds  _Love_  wearing a traditional cloth over her head, and his heart freezes. It's the same tradition the Park clan and the Min sect had. The woman being courted would wear one of those cloths as a sign of acceptance to the man courting her, and all of a sudden, Yoongi feels a warmth in him, and he smiles warmly at her.

She smiles back at him and seems a bit nervous due to the way she nervously fumbles over her robes, but she takes a deep breath and says,

"Min Yoongi, I hereby accept you and your offering,"

Yoongi is in the heavens.

He lets out a small laugh, and his smile is huge as he grabs her hands, bringing them to his lips and he gives them both a kiss, incredibly happy that they can finally be together.

"Did you like it Min Yoongi? How was it? Formal enough? I tried to do it according to the Park and Min tradition, but you get the message right? Right?"

She's speaking quick and loud and he knows she is excited, and he loves that he's able to bring that side out of her, absolutely loves it. Yoongi nods again and caresses both hands, bringing them to his chest as a sign of adoration. 

For that moment, everything in the world seems right, and everything is in bliss. 

> The two lovers embrace each other, unknowing of the danger that is accumulating every second.


	8. 7. The day the lovers were separated

**Chapter Seven:**

**The Day the Lovers were Separated**

**\- in which Min Yoongi and Lee Sarang say goodbye to each other**

* * *

When Sarang receives the news, she is upset.

Something sudden has happened back home, and Sarang with both her brothers and the disciples have to head back to Susanoo Estate. Sarang demands to stay in the Ama Terasu Estate, as she practically is a bride-to-be and she and her future husband have to start preparations as soon as possible. Donghae tells her calmly that the trip will be no more than a month and that she should do some things for the wedding over there too as it is part of the Lee tradition.

Sarang and Yoongi both sadly agree and even if Hongbin rolls his eyes countless of times at the sight of the lovers, he can't help but feel a little bit sad that his sister is going to be apart from him.

The morning comes in which the guests leave, the Lee, the Choi and the Kim. It is unusual, but Yoongi's young lord has told him that they will inform them as to why soon. Yoongi decides to send off  _Love_  with a basket of goods, and right when he arrives,  _Love_  begins to sniffle.

Yoongi holds her for a moment, trying hard to console her that things will really be okay, and  _Love_  just whines about wanting to have their wedding as quick as possible.

"I can't believe it! We've barely begun our days as an engaged pair and now I have to leave?"

Donghae urges them to hurry up, and before  _Love_  can scream at her brother, Yoongi caresses her cheek and gently whispers, "Everything will be fine, I will wait patiently, right here."  _Love_  bites her inner cheek and childishly mumbles, "promise?"

Yoongi laughs a bit and nods, replying, "promise."

 _Love_ , very quickly, stands on her toes and gives his cheek a small peck, laughing as Yoongi goes bright red. Before he can scold her for doing such an inappropriate act, she places her finger on his lips and smiles at him, a silent order for him nit to say anything.

"hold onto your promise then General, because I'll be waiting for you too," 

and with that, she waves a small goodbye, turned around and heads over to the horse that Hongbin had gotten for her.

Yoongi could only smile with a heavy heart.

*~*

When he is called inside the private Park room, he automatically knows that something is wrong.

It hadn't been too long since he said goodbye to  _Love_ , only two days really, but he couldn't help but also feel worried for her as well. And when he arrived in the room, he knew it was bad news.

The entire Park clan leaders were there, including the leaders of the Park branches and sects within the clan. 

The Park elder had a sour look on his face, and Jimin and his siblings sat right next to him, all with worried looks. 

"We have entered war,"

Just those words, those four words, were enough to have Yoongi's heart crumble.

"The Han and Jung clan have declared war on the four clans, and we have decided to send back the disciples so that each clan can have a steady supply of soldiers,"

Yoongi can only think of  _Love's_  smile when she said goodbye, and his heart breaks. 

"Therefore, when the time is right, all sects will head over to the bunkers that we have been preparing, as we feared something like this would happen, and each sect must be prepared when we call upon aid,"

Yoongi doesn't even know if he'll see her again.

"We will work closely with the Kim clan, as we are their companion,"

Why couldn't she have stayed? Why couldn't they have immediately told the others that they were engaged so they wouldn't be separated?

"Until then, we have no further notice,"

Yoongi receives one look of pity and sadness from his young lord, and he immediately knows the answer.

He will not see  _Love_  in a very long time.

*~*

When Lee Sarang receives the news, the first thing she does is drop her sword. Her fingers tremble as the immediate thought of her beloved comes into mind, and her brothers can only look at the ground, unable to face the sadness in the youngest's eyes.

Sarang does not cry.

She does not let herself go in front of the others, but she knows the others can easily tell what she's feeling. She steps back and stumbles,  Hongbin quickly reaching out to steady her. 

A knot is caught in her throat, and although she is terrified at the news of war, she is also terrified about the future involving her beloved.

"I have... I have to go back,"

She left so many things back in the Ama Terasu estate, which is the official title of the Park territory. She left Xiao, she left her precious cloth, but most of all she left Yoongi. 

"Hongbin-ah... I have to go back... I can't leave him," 

Hongbin shakes his head and holds her arms to prevent her from leaving. Donghae asks for the others to leave the room, and once everybody does, he heads over to his siblings and takes Sarang into his arms.

"You knew didn't you?"

Donghae said nothing.

"Why did you take me? You gave him permission and-and we.. we were.. both ready, we... you don't understand!"

Donghae did, he  _did_  understand, because he had to leave his beloved behind as well, but she didn't know that, nobody did. And he knows that if she keeps pressing he'll burst out.

"Don't say anything, stop.. I know it hurts,"

Sarang didn't, she went as far as to hit him and was already demanding to be taken back,  and Donghae knew that he wasn't going to last long because he was hurting too and his goodbyes with his beloved was full of tears and longing embraces, not like the innocent goodbyes the younger couple had. They both knew, though, that since neither had taken the first step to marriage, they, by law, had to consider their clans first, especially as his beloved is the heiress of the branch of her clan.

"I know... I know... please... please understand... I had to leave her too..."

Sarang stops hitting him at this point, and instead chooses to bury her face in her brother's chest and sob her heart out, knowing that she was in the presence of two people who wouldn't judge her. Her heart bled, it bled for the war, it bled for Yoongi, it bled for her brother, it bled for the terrifying thought that she could lose everything in this war.

"Is there no way then? No way you could contact both of them?"

Sarang mumbles, stll holding onto a hope that perhaps her connection with Yoongi won't be at all lost.

"There is! It is common in war to send secret messages, and as the Jung and Han clans are right in the middle of our country, we will be using them frequently, so you both could keep up with each other," Hongbin pipes up, suddenly bringing up scrolls that is empty and ready to be written on. Sarang thanks her brother for spending those hours reading up on history while she goofed off with Kim disciples, and goes straight to her old room to start writing.

_My beloved,_

_With the news of the war coming upon us, I am afraid that we will have to wait longer for our union,_

_To be blunt, I am afraid._

_It is unlike me, to feel such a thing, but I never realized how terrifying it feels to be separated from the person you love most during these harsh times_

_Therefore, I beg of you_

_Stay alive and don't forget our vow to each other_

_Perhaps we'll meet again sooner than we think_

_Take care during these times, fight hard and guide your troops into battle as fierce as you are_

_When this war is over, I'll be overjoyed to have a husband as brave as you_

_You hold a very special place in my heart,_

_I cannot bear to think of leaving you or of you leaving me_

_I will keep sending letters, as it is the only way to reach you_

_and I only hope you can write back_

_Once more, take care of yourself_

_and take care of Xiao, as I think the little one will be sad that I will not be there as well_

_I love you_

_Lee Sarang_


	9. Side Story: The feelings that blossomed under your care

**Side Story**

**The Feelings that Blossomed Under Your Care**

**\- in which we see three cases of how love changed the lives of six different people**

**1\. The Case of Lee Donghae and Park Jiyeon**

* * *

When Donghae was told he'd be the personal guard of the heirress of the main Park branch, he was... disappointed.

He was supposed to be the personal guard of the Main Lee branch, and he had been looking forward to spending the days with the beloved family, not the woman who had been his tormentor since childhood. Granted, the woman was not a bully, but she would openly tease him and prank him many times. Donghae hadn't seen her in years, but he held a childish belief that she had not changed, and he grieved for the future of the Park Clan. 

When he arrived at the Park estate, with both his siblings in tow, he mustered up all the feelings and forced a smile, bowing in front of Park elder, not paying any attention to the family behind him until he was told to do so. They were greeted warmly, and his siblings seemed to be happy to be training under the esteemed Park Academy, where disciples from every clan go to to study and train, unlike him. 

He had stubbornly admitted to himself that she had grown well, and that she was beautiful now compared to her messy hair and inappropriate habits she had when they were younger (when he saw that his sister was just like her when she was younger, he had been close to tears). Still, she seemed to be happy to see him there, and Donghae did not doubt that it would be because she was already coming up with ways to torture him while his stay there. 

The first day he started, she had ordered him to skip breakfast so he could eat with her, and if Donghae had a choice, he would have quit then and there because what type of guard would do that with the person he worked for? Still, Donghae grudgingly did as told and sat in front of her in her pavilion. The breakfast was nice and Donghae would be lying if he said he had not missed the traditional Park breakfast. 

"So, we have many years to catch up on Donghae-ssi,"

Donghae was quick to reprimand her that she should not call him by his name, but she waved her hand and replied, "I'll be the leader of the Park clan soon, I have grown accustomed to playing by my rules." Donghae huffed silently and sat through the ramblings of his young lady, chuckling once in a while when she recalled all the times she had messed around with him. 

"Do not worrry much Donghae-ssi, I have matured greatly, I do not find pleasure in catching frogs anymore," she concluded as she sipped some of the herbal tea, smiling at him, "and I prefer reading over drawing on the walls." 

Donghae could only hope that his sister would mature like his young lady did, and soon.

And then Donghae decided, that it might not be so bad being the main guard of the heiress of the Park Clan.

The days went on and on, and each moment with the heiress made it seem... nice. Of course, Donghae would witness the long hours his poor heiress would waste on studying and preparing for meetings and discussions, but the moments where she caught up with old friends were the moments he loved most. In those moments, she seemed happy and at rest, and as much as he enjoyed seeing her serious side, he would still miss that rowdy girl who would convince him into catching frogs and lizards, which often ended up in them heading over to the disciplanary ward. 

It was hypocritical of him, he knows, but seeing the woman constantly, only made him happy to know that she was not just someone he worked for, but also a friend, and it made him feel ashamed that he had thought so bitterly of her because of the smacks to the back and the many hours of writing down whatever they made him write, and he had forgotten about all those times she had smiled at him and helped cure his wounds.

So Donghae promises himself, one day when he finds his young lady's face burried in her hands with shaking shoulders, that he would do whatever he could to protect that smile on her face, because that was what she is meant to be. 

A happy and fun-loving woman.

*~*

Park Jiyeon did not expect this to happen.

She had only thought of him as a friend, despite his position of a guard. 

But when he had offered a shoulder the day she felt like the world hated her, she felt warmth.

She felt utter warmth.

And ever since then she has been yearning for the steady shoulder to lean on.

Ever since then she began to notice how much the young gullible boy she knew grew. 

Park Jiyeon had matured herself, but seeing the man in front of her made her feel as if she wanted to revert back to the rowdy girl who dared to do things just for the heck of it. 

One of the things she wanted to do, was hop into the man's arms and declare her mixed emotions to him, wanting to shout,

"Lee Donghae! You make my heart race! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

But that would be incredibly embarrasing for the both of them, and as much as Jiyeon loved to make her guard red, she would not wish such a thing upon the poor soul.

Still, each time they found themselves alone, she would try to learn more about him and have him learn more about her, a foolish hope that perhaps he would be able to feel the same.

Little by little, she began to suspect that perhaps he did return those feelings, and it all started with her habit of playing with something if she got bored, which was often.

She found herself in her study, alone, with him, and while she was supposed to be signing certain letters, her other free hand was lazily creating a rythm with her fingers. Soon enough, her fingers playfully danced around the table, all the way to where  _his_  hand was resting.

He didn't seem to notice, and Jiyeon smiled playfully to herself, allowing her fingers to dance on top his hand, catching him by surprise. She then picked up his hand, letting her fingers roam over the surprisingly smooth skin.

"I would expect that a man who is always carrying a sword would develop callouses, how is it that you have none?"

Donghae laughed and responded, "I do not know, but I suspect my sister's scented tonics have something to do with it."

"Bah! The Lee's scented oils prove themselves worthy once more!" she joyously exclaimed, putting down the brush to make sure both of her hands held his. She expected him to reprimand her once more, but she was surprised herself when he only moved closer to allow her to keep touching his hand, and she couldn't help but feel the mysterious feeling in her chest once more.

The daily routine went on like that, whenever he noticed she was beginning to squirm, he would secretly hold out his hand and let her tap her fingers against his palm, creating the same rythm every time.

_Tap once_

_tap twice_

_pause_

_tap twice_

_then tap once_

A night came all of a sudden, when the heiress had tired herself of training with her sword, and demanded to be carried to her room. Donghae had laid her on her bed, and had waited until she was fully asleep, and right when he was sure of it, he thread his fingers through her hair and mumbled a small, "You look beautiful... beautiful as always." And with that, he left the room. The following morning, the most embarrasing moment of his life had happened.

"What if you were to court me?"

Donghae had stumbled at the question.

"What..?"

"Donghae, you blabbered off your secret last night,"

Donghae had thought she was  _asleep_ for heaven's sakes.  She smiled at him and walked up to him, "my parents won't mind, they knew I had a small liking towards you when we were children anyway, and they have been pestering me to get a suitor." She leaned her elbows on her table and smiled at the flushed man, "Come on, a general of mine is courting your sister no? Isn't it a bad image to marry off a younger if the eldest is not yet married?" Donghae gaped at the heiress.

"B-But, I am your guard-"

"Yes, but only for two years, and I have a hunch that my beloved mother planned all of this," 

( _She was right too, her mother had enjoyed seeing the two have their own moments, and she and Donghae's mother, when she was still alive, vowed to bring their children together)_

"You technically only have a few months until you are dismissed, how about when the time comes, you start the courtship?"

Donghae sighed at the offering and looked at his young lady in complete fondness. 

"If.... if that is what you wish,"

She smiled and stood up, walked towards him and stopped until she was right in front of him. She took his hand and muttered softly, as if she was afraid to say it, and muttered, "That is... if you want me of course." 

Donghae's eyes widened at the hesitance in her eyes, at the fear that perhaps she had thought wrong, and was forcing him into something. Donghae shook his head and gripped her hands tightly, replying, "Of course I want this, I have been... waiting for a while... I am truly happy, truly." She blinked at him slowly, processing what he had said, and smiled joyously, lunging towards him, wanting to feel his arms wrapped around her.

And in that moment, everything seemed right.


End file.
